Christmas Western Novel by Stephen Bly

Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing, Christmas Western Novel by Award-Winning Author Stephen Bly, Book 1 The Stuart Brannon Series

Christmas was not a good time for Stuart Brannon. Christmas 1875 he lost his wife, Lisa Nash Brannon, and infant son in childbirth. In this 1876 Christmas western novel, a horrific blizzard was only the start of his troubles.

For a man who didn’t need another disaster, the fierce winter at Broken Arrow Crossing couldn’t come at a worse time. Stuart Brannon had abandoned his Arizona ranch, sick with grief after losing his family and his cattle. That’s when the vicious Colorado storm struck.

Half-frozen, Brannon stumbles into the isolated stage station at Broken Arrow Crossing. He finds a wounded prospector who he tries to nurse back to health. Other stragglers arrive at the station. An abused, pregnant Indian girl. Naïve gold seekers. Drawn into their desperate plights, Brannon plunges into a dangerous mission to rescue a boy from Indians. Then he becomes the target of an outlaw band.

Written in the tradition of Zane Grey, Luke Short, and Louis L’Amour, Christmas western novel Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing recreates the tumultuous Old West where good battles evil.

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“One hallmark of Stephen Bly’s classic westerns is that they are complete. Bly gives you the full experience, every detail, evoking a period he has mastered.” — Jerry B. Jenkins, New York Times bestselling author, The Left Behind Series, Riven, I, Saul

“Bly does a lot of things right for lovers of the traditional western … (he) clearly knows the country he writes about: the difference between pinion pines and chaparral, what the weather will do, how horses tire. He knows about guns and seems to have thoroughly researched the behavior of Indian war parties.” — Booklist

Sometime before darkness or death, Stuart Brannon had to find Broken Arrow Crossing. He considered tying the bandana around his left hand. The numb, bare flesh of three fingers stuck out from the stiff, worn leather glove. But his nose and ears felt worse. The sharp pain stage had ceased hours before, and now a dull, mind-deadening throb signaled real trouble.

Jerking the red bandana over his face, Brannon attempted to keep the blowing snow from slicing into his skin. His eyes, frost-covered and nearly frozen shut, strained to scout the blizzard for a trail.

With black hat tilted low, he saw very little. Brannon’s right hand jammed deep into a coat pocket. His left hand encircled the slim horn of the Visalia saddle. The reins laced through the second and third fingers. That much he could see, but couldn’t feel.

Sage plodded through the Colorado winter. The white blaze on his black nose pointed down. The howl of the storm muffled any other noise. The horse, the rider crept through the lifeless forest. Alone.

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Stephen Bly

About the Author:

Stephen Bly (1944-2011) wrote more than 105 novels and nonfiction books, including historical and contemporary westerns. He co-authored with his wife Janet Chester Bly twenty books.

From 1999 to 2007 he was mayor of Winchester, Idaho. From 1999 to 2011 he served as pastor of Winchester Community Church. He earned his degree in Philosophy (summa cum lade) at Fresno State University. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.

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Click here to find out more about this Christmas western novel and the other six books in The Stuart Brannon Series: BUY NOW

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